Thousands feast at Hampton Beach's Seafood Fest

HAMPTON BEACH — The Hampton Beach Seafood Festival has been acclaimed as one of the top 100 events in North America by the American Bus Association, and it's easy to see why.

Thousands of tourists packed Hampton's Ocean Boulevard Saturday for the second day of the Festival, a three-day event from Friday through Sunday featuring over 60 of the Seacoast's top restaurants serving an abundance of mouthwatering seafood delicacies.

The roads and sidewalks throughout Ocean Boulevard were swarmed with crowds of festivalgoers all jostling for room in front of the many restaurant stands. Menu items included lobster rolls, fried clams, mussels, clam chowder, lobster bisque, and numerous other mouthwatering items.

"I love Seafood Festival," said Tom Small, a native of South Hadley, Massachusetts. "I've been coming up here for a while now."

As people continued to pour onto Hampton Beach's main strip, businesses were fighting to keep up with customer demands.

"Business is going great," said Silvia Cheever, an employee of Rye Harbor Lobster. "Just take a look around," she joked in reference to the swarms of customers waiting at her booth for service.

But seafood isn't the only thing on the agenda during the festival.

Eighty arts and crafts vendors promoting locally-made products, in addition to hundreds of Ocean Boulevard merchants offering end-of the-season sidewalk sales, were also present. Items included everything from T-shirts and jewelry to memorabilia.

There also were continuous entertainment options on Hampton Beach's two main stages, with over 15 bands and orchestras slated to play a variety of music from opening day Friday until close Sunday.

A fireworks display was planned Saturday evening at 8:15 p.m.

"What a great event," said Randell Huffey, a native of Albany, New York, who was experiencing the festival for the first time Saturday while on vacation in the area with his wife. "This is pretty unbelievable."

And if witness testimony isn't enough to lure people out for the last day of the event today, there's still plenty more attractions to see and do. Some of these include a 200 foot beverage tent serving beer and wine, a beach cabana bar in the sand, and "can't miss" skydiving demonstration planned for 5 p.m.

Gates open for Sunday's festival at 10 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Admission prices to the festival are $5 for adults while children under 12 are free.